Interested in developing your knowledge and skills? This course is ideal for experienced doctors and nurses who are practising in palliative care and end of life care.
Following excellent feedback in 2025, Oxford Centre for Education and Research in Palliative Care is delighted to collaborate with Dorothy House Hospice for the third year to bring you this Masterclass in 2026. Book now for an early bird price of £175.
Topics will be selected from the Oxford Advanced Course in Pain and Symptom Management taking place in Summer 2025. Updates and new publications in the field are added to the teaching materials. A case-based teaching approach is used face-to-face in the beautiful setting of Dorothy House Hospice.
See the course programme section for an example programme from 2025. The 2026 programme will be available in the autumn.
Taking place on Friday the 23rd of January 2026.
Example (2025) Course Programme LINK
Word cloud of 2025 feedback:
Location: Face to face
CPD Credits: 5 CPD points expected
+ Venue
Dorothy House Hospice, Winsley, Bradford-on-Avon, BA15 2LE.
+ Speakers
2026 Chair:
Dr Mary Miller - Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Sobell House, Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer in Palliative Medicine, University of Oxford, Director OxCERPC (Oxford Centre for education and research in palliative care) and Clinical Lead for NACEL
Dr Miller qualified from University College Cork, Ireland in 1988. She trained and worked in palliative medicine in Ireland, Sweden and the UK and has been a consultant in palliative medicine in Oxford since 1998. Dr Miller has a strong interest in education; completing a Diploma in Learning and Teaching at Oxford University 2005, was Training Programme Director and Regional Specialty Advisor (2002 – 2008) and has led the Oxford Advanced Courses in Pain and Symptom Management since 2005. She is an elected member of the Education Committee of the Association of Palliative Medicine and joint lead of the postgraduate education special interest forum. Since the inception of OxCERPC in 2017, Dr Miller and the team are focusing on building an exciting portfolio of courses, building research readiness and reaching out to practitioners across the globe.
2026 Speakers TBC.
+ Course Programmes
Example programme from 2025 (2026 programme tbc):
09.00 - Coffee and registration
09:15 - Welcome and Introduction
09:25 - End of life care for patients with Parkinson’s disease (Dr Mary Miller)
Caring for patients as they lose their oral route – goals of care, medications to use and those to avoid.
Thinking ahead and use of Rotigotine patches. Do you always need them?
10:10 - Hydration at the end of life (Dr Mary Miller)
Language used to discuss diminishing drinking, mouth care and hydration. What does the evidence tell us and what is on the horizon?
10:40 - Coffee Break
11:10 - The care of children when their important adult is dying (Prof Cherith Semple)
Thinking of future generations, looking for the children in the family and supporting their important adults to have important conversations
12:30 - Lunch
13:30 - Benzodiazepines: an update (Dr Mary Miller)
Are these the best medications for the management of anxiety and delirium at the end of life – are there other options when consciousness is a priority?
14:00 - Breathlessness (Dr Mary Miller)
Look at the evidence – do opioids and Mirtazapine work in the management of breathlessness? What else can we use?
14:30 - Break
14:45 - Cardiac failure (Emma Stoppani)
Experienced community heart failure specialist nurse practitioner will update us on the management of heart failure in patients approaching the end of their life
15:45 - Final remarks
16.00 - Close of day
+ Course Aims
Knowledge to inform your practice
Resources from which to continue learning and adapt that learning in practice
A means of ensuring your practice compares with ‘good practice’, benchmarking against your peers
Stimulation, time for thinking and reflection
